Popeye Meets Hercules
'' Popeye Meets Hercules ''is the 155th Popeye cartoon, released by Famous Studios on June 18, 1948. It features Popeye as the main protagonist; Olive Oyl as the love interest; Hercules (Bluto playing a role) as the main antagonist; and, in order of appearance, Father Time; a number of centaurs; a troop of satyrs; a 'fresh frosh;' the gods Zeus, Mercury, and Mars; a stadium announcer; a bevy of voluptuous women; a winged-heart cupid; a pair of wild elephants; three lions; and Spinachia, the goddess of spinach. As in How Green Is My Spinach, there is also a narrator for portions of the action. The cartoon playfully combines ancient Greek and Roman mythology with tongue-in-cheek snippets of postwar American life. Plot The cartoon begins with a depiction of Father time marching backward from the present ('1948') to ancient Greece, where the first Olympic Games are taking place (776 BC). We watch a collection of Greek citizens in togas and comical hairstyles, the 'horsey set' (an aristocratic-looking pair of centaurs), and the band comprised of a group of satyrs (members of 'Local Musicians Union 123') playing conch-shell flutes, walking towards a stadium entrance. The announcer interjects, "Hey, how'd this fresh frosh get in?" as we see a Mickey Rooney-like young man in a raccoon coat and college beanie wave a banner and shout, "Shalomaleichim, shalomaleichem, rah, rah, rah!!" (Shalom aleichem, '''peace be upon you' in Hebrew, a common greeting among Ashkenazi Jews). And then we witness three Greek gods looking down upon the events from Mount Olympus, with Zeus snapping his fingers to produce a lightning bolt which ignites his cigar. Inside the stadium, we witness Popeye and Olive in togas waiting for the games to start as they share a hot dog, a bottle of Coca-Cola, and a kiss. Suddenly, an announcement is made for "today's star contestant. . .the all-time champ of champions, Hercules!" Bluto appears on the field driving a golden chariot pulled by nine white horses and wearing a royal blue robe. He jumps off and skids to a stop. Turning to face the crowd in the opposite direction, we are shown a close-up of his billboard-sized back upon which is written "This space reserved for advertising--reasonable rates." Facing back in our direction, Bluto extends his arms outward as a pair of satyrs unknots his robe. As his powerfully developed physique is revealed we hear females screaming their adulation from the stands, and then see a representative row of Alberto Vargas-type girls swooning and fainting at the sight (Olive is shown cross-eyed with her tongue hanging out). Bluto does a double-bicep pose, with one of the biceps morphing into a set of bowling pins and the other into a bowling ball which mows them down (a scene that was reutilized two years later in ''Beach Peach). Olive blows a kiss which takes wing in the form of a heart and winks suggestively at the demigod. A smitten Bluto seems to float on tiptoe over to her side and takes her hand in his. After adroitly fending off an irate Popeye, he kisses it and produces a flock of goosebumps shaped like actual geese. Next Hercules stands in the center of the stadium and shouts, "I challenge anyone, no matter who, to come out and do the things I do!" As Popeye accepts the challenge, Bluto inflates his chest and employs it as a piledriver to pound the much-smaller man neck-deep into the ground. A series of contests ensues: Bluto rips the skin off a pair of elephants and turns them into mastodon skeleton exhibits from a museum of natural history; Popeye transforms three lions into basketballs and uses them to score points. Bluto's discus throw boomerangs to ensnare Popeye, but Popeye somehow manages to get inside Bluto's singlet and tickles and taunts him mercilessly. Finally, Bluto's far-superior physical prowess comes to the fore in the javelin throw, where, with one mighty thrust, he is able to propel his opponent clear to the moon, giving the three observing gods a close shave in the process. Now Hercules moves in on the woman who had been blowing him kisses, but Olive, apparently taken aback by what he had just done to Popeye, resists. She makes her way to the stadium megaphone and pleads for Popeye's aid. Hearing her from far out in space, Popeye falls on his knees and pleads in turn for help from Spinachia, goddess of spinach. His prayers are answered as Spinachia materializes--a female with bright red hair, Popeye's exact face, and a Mae West figure--and feeds him a can of spinach. Popeye's muscle expands in the usual fashion and encapsulates an image of an atomic-bomb mushroom cloud. He assumes the shape of a rocket and fires himself back to Olympic Stadium. By this time Hercules has grabbed Olive and taken her aboard his chariot. Momentarily forgetting his earlier Greek/Italian accent, he declares, "I'll save ya--for meSELF!" But an airborne punch from Popeye knocks him off his mount, and a series of blows to the head reduces the erstwhile physique icon from twice Popeye's height to half of it. The miniature muscleman flees in terror. In the final scene Popeye and Olive ride on the back of a centaur and share a passionate kiss. Popeye places blinders on the centaur so that they can continue to kiss in private. Bluto Hercules Unveiling.gif Bluto Hercules Flex.gif Bluto Hercules Squash.gif Category:Cartoons Category:Popeye's Episodes